Jewish Heritage Trail of New York City

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Founded in 1904 with just 26 donated objects, the Jewish Museum of New York now contains almost 30,000 items including art, ceremonial objects, and media. The museum is one of the oldest museums dedicated to Jewish history in the world and the oldest in the United States. The mission of the Museum is to show how art mixes with Jewish culture. By devoting their efforts to this mission, the Jewish Museum helps expose the public to Jewish customs and history, while also helping define the Jewish identity.

2. Congregation Shearith Israel

Founded in 1654, Congregation Shearith Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in North America. Its current temple is a historic structure built in 1897. The congregation, which has remained Orthodox since its inception, was the only one in New York until 1825. As such, it was the center of Jewish life for that entire time. It was founded by 23 Jews of Spanish and Portuguese origin living in Recife, Brazil. They traveled to New York (at that time it was a small Dutch colony called New Amsterdam) to escape the Inquisition bought by the Portuguese, who defeated the Dutch to capture control of Recife. The congregation today remains a center of Orthodox life in the city, offering educational and religious programming for children and adults, as well as other activities.

3. Central Synagogue, New York City

A National Historic Landmark, Central Synagogue is the largest and oldest synagogue in New York City, and it hosts one of the largest North American Jewish congregations. Established in 1872, Central Synagogue has seen consistent growth in its congregation and welcomes any and all visitors to its great halls. In addition to traditional attendance and membership, the Synagogue also livestreams its services online for those who are physically unable to attend.

4. Sutton Place Synagogue

The Sutton Place Synagogue has been considered the Jewish Center for the United Nations since 1965. Its congregation dates to 1901, when the synagogue was held in a loft above a Blacksmith's shop. Since relocating to 51st Street near the United Nations, the synagogue has actively participated in the international and political community, as well as holding the Jewish Town Hall Lecture Series (featuring speakers such as Elie Wiesel, Henry Kissinger, and Isaac Bashevis Singer) since the 1980s. In addition to regular services, a participatory musical service is held on the second Friday of each month.

5. East End Temple

The East End Temple is housed in a four-story French Renaissance townhouse designed in 1883 by Beaux-Arts architect Richard Morris Hunt in 1883, as a residence for prominent New York lawyer Sidney Webster. The building's exterior is a designated New York Historic Landmark. The El Emet (God of Truth) Reform Jewish Congregation, which was founded by a group of Stuyvesant Town World War II veterans in 1948, transformed the interior into their new synagogue in 2004. In 2004, BKSK Architects and LWC Design renovated the residence into a multi-level synagogue designed to feel welcoming, accessible, and non-hierarchical. The temple also holds a religious school for K-7th grades, adult education programs such as the Israeli Film Series, and the Helene Spring Library (in the former dining room of the townhouse).

6. Angel Orensanz Foundation

Built in 1849, this former Jewish synagogue is the oldest surviving temple in New York City and the fourth oldest surviving in the country. It was built by Congregation Anshe Chesed, which formed in 1825. It ceased to exist in 1874 when it merged with another congregation. The building has been the Angel Orensanz Center, an art studio for its namesake and an art and cultural center for the city, since 1986. Orensanz is a Spanish-born sculptor and painter who arrived and bought the building that year. It had been abandoned since 1974 and was in bad shape after suffering years of vandalism. The center offers space for exhibitions for artists of all types and the building can be rented for events. A museum on the third and fourth floors displaying Orensanz's work is also located here.

7. Bialystoker Synagogue

The Bialystoker Synagogue, located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is the oldest surviving building in New York City that is actively used as a synagogue. Originally, the building was constructed as the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church in 1826, but in 1905, it was purchased for use as a synagogue. In April 1996, it was designated as a New York City Landmark, and in April 1972, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Bialystoker Synagogue congregation still gathers in this historic building.

8. Eldridge Street Synagogue

The Eldridge Street Synagogue is a historic synagogue located in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan. Built in 1887, it is one of the first Eastern European Jewish Synagogues built in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March of 1980, designated as a New York City Landmark in July of 1980, and designated as a National Historic Landmark in June of 1996. After extensive renovations, the synagogue hosts the Museum at Eldridge Street, and the Kahal Adath Jeshurun congregation still meets in the synagogue for worship.

9. Chatham Square Cemetery

From 1654 until 1825, Shearith Israel was the only Jewish congregation in New Amsterdam/New York City. The congregation's burial ground, known as Chatham Square Cemetery or First Cemetery of Shearith Israel, is the second oldest extant burial ground in Manhattan, dating to 1682.

10. Museum of Jewish Heritage

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust. The third largest Holocaust museum in the world, the Museum anchors the southernmost tip of Manhattan, completing the cultural and educational landscape it shares with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

11. Congregation Beth Elohim and Temple House

In 1909, the Congregation Beth Elohim (CBE) dedicated this temple, also known as the Eighth Avenue Temple or the Garfield Temple, as the new home for their burgeoning congregation. Designed by the architecture firm of Simon Eisendrath and B. Horowitz, the CBE was constructed in the Classical Revival style. Twenty years later, in 1929, the congregation opened the Temple House directly across Garfield Street to provide a cultural center and home for their neighborhood congregants. The Temple House is in Art Deco style. Since moving to this address, the Congregation Beth Elohim has been a staple of the Park Slope neighborhood, continuing a longer history of engagement in the wider Brooklyn community. In 2012, CBE won a publicly voted competition for a $250,000 preservation grant from Partners in Preservation, a program organized by American Express and the National Trust.

12. Ocean Parkway Jewish Center

The Ocean Parkway Jewish Center was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The three-story building, constructed between 1925 and 1926, was designed in the Neoclassical style. It was built when Brooklyn became one of the world's important centers of Jewish life. The building includes a sanctuary, ballroom, classrooms, and a social hall. The congregation traces its history back to the establishment of the Tifereth Israel Congregation in 1907.

13. 770 Eastern Parkway (Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters)

The synagogue on 770 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, Brooklyn may seem unassuming when judged on its outward appearance alone. However, the apparently plain neo-Gothic style building is the headquarters of the Congregation Lubavitch of Agudas Chasidei Chabad. Lubavitch Chassidim has grown from its isolationist tendencies at the beginning of the 20th century to become one of the most globally recognized and influential Jewish movements. This growth is largely due to the efforts of their Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), a man that many in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement believe to have been, or will yet become, the Jewish Messiah.

14. Jewish Children's Museum

The largest Jewish-themed children’s museum in the United States is the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn. It showcases Jewish history and heritage in a hands-on, interactive environment. It is open to everyone. The museum opened in 2004 and has hosted numerous celebrity visitors. The museum is dedicated to the memory of Ari Halberstam, a teenager who was gunned down on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994 in the wake of Crown Heights race riots. His mother, Devorah, was instrumental in the creation of the museum to honor her son’s legacy and his love of his own heritage. The museum is dedicated to teaching tolerance to all children so that we can live in a peaceful society.

15. Bayside Cemetery

Established in the late 1840s, the Bayside Cemetery is one of New York City’s oldest burial grounds and closely associated with the city’s third-oldest synagogue, Shaare Zedek. Located between Liberty Avenue and Pitkin Avenue in Bayside, the cemetery contains the graves of around thirty-five thousand Jews, including many Civil War veterans and George Rosenshein, a victim of the Titanic.

16. Congregation Tifereth Israel Synagogue

Located in Corona, Queens, the synagogue building of the Congregation Tifereth Israel was built in 1911 by Ashkenazi Jews. It is a remarkably rare surviving example of Gothic-Moorish revival architecture and remains both the oldest purpose-built synagogue building and oldest synagogue in continuous use in Queens. The building was added to the list of New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens in February 2008.

17. Derfner Judaica Museum

This cultural history museum was established in 1982 and offers 5,000 square feet of exhibits related to the history, culture, and art of Jewish communities in New York and beyond. The museum was established by Ralph and Leuba Braum, refugees of Nazi persecution, and in 2008, the museum was renamed in their honor.

18. Congregation Adas Emuno

Congregation Adas Emuno formed in 1871 in Hoboken, where its original synagogue is still standing. Designed in the Gothic and Romanesque style, this building is now a residential building. The congregation follows the Reform tradition. Congregants first met at a location called the Odd Fellows Hall and remained there until 1874 when they moved to another location. Calls for a new synagogue were finally realized in 1883 when the Hoboken temple was built. The congregation moved to Leonia in 1974 and are located in a former church. The congregation is a vibrant community, offering religious schooling and classes for adults. Participation in social issues is also a major focus of the community.

19. Jewish Museum of New Jersey

The Jewish Museum of New Jersey serves as an important center for Jewish cultural life in Newark. Founded in 2003 and opened in 2007, it is housed in the Ahava Shalom synagogue, the oldest continuously active synagogue in the city. The museum is the state's first centralized museum devoted to Jewish history. It features permanent, rotating and traveling exhibits that explore various topics of Jewish history including Jewish immigration to the state, the role New Jersey Jews played in the Civil Rights Movement, and the stories of local Holocaust survivors. The museum also offers inter-faith programming that promotes cultural understanding and tolerance. A highlight of the synagogue itself is its beautiful carved mahogany ark, which is the oldest in the state. The synagogue was built 1923 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

20. Temple B'Nai Abraham (Deliverance Evangelistic Center)

Now home to the Deliverance Evangelistic Center, a non-denominational Pentecostal congregation, the former Temple B'Nai Abraham is the largest Jewish synagogue in New Jersey and second oldest in Newark. Designed by architect Nathan Myers in the Neo-Classical style, it was built in 1924 and has a seating capacity of 2,000. It features many stained-glass windows, including ones that form a dome in the shape of the Star of David, and five Ionic columnns, among other Neo-Classical elements. The Temple is also notable for its association with one of its rabbis, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, who was a nationally-known activist during the Civil Rights Movement and a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., who spoke at the temple several times (Prinz gave the speech before King's "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington D.C.). The temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

This Tour is a Thematic Tour or Heritage Trail.

Jewish Heritage Trail of New York City

Created by Joshua Shavers on November 22nd 2018, 10:51:35 am.

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Description

This trail connects residents and visitors of New York to numerous Jewish cultural and religious landmarks. The trail begins at the Jewish Museum of New York and includes several other museums such as Derfner Judaica Museum, the Jewish Children's Museum, and the Jewish Museum of New Jersey. The tour also includes numerous synagogues and temples, including Congregation Shearith Israel and New York's Central Synagogue, a National Historic Landmark. The tour also includes the Bialystoker Synagogue, Congregation Beth Elohim, Congregation Tifereth Israel, Eldridge Street Synagogue, the former Temple B'Nai Abraham, Sutton Place Synagogue, and numerous other landmkarks throughout the New York and New Jersey metro area.

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Jewish History

Entries on This Tour

Jewish Heritage Trail of New York City

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